


Brave and Afraid

by bluepact, lil blue (bluepact)



Category: Magic: The Gathering
Genre: Friends to Lovers, Guns, Half-Life crossover, M/M, Serious Injuries
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-01
Updated: 2017-08-01
Packaged: 2018-12-09 22:53:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,399
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11678775
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bluepact/pseuds/bluepact, https://archiveofourown.org/users/bluepact/pseuds/lil%20blue
Summary: Karn helps Venser and his friends escape City 17.





	Brave and Afraid

_The sky_ was gray, the same color as the walls of Venser’s home, if you could even call it that. He lived inside a retired train compartment, broken off from its vehicle years ago. He always had a pistol at his side, always ready to attack any otherworldly creatures whenever he needed. He was hungry, so hungry, as it’d been days since he had anything to eat. He sat in the corner of the compartment and shivered. He pulled down his red beanie to his eyes. It was about time to sleep now, as Venser’d stayed up for several days in a row on the watch for zombies. But things were quiet now. He wondered if his friend Karn was around somewhere. God forbid he’d be dead.

Venser slept for a while, his back against the cold metal. He woke up with a start, the groan of a zombie startling him. The zombie was followed by two headcrabs, both ready to jump out at Venser. He unlatched his pistol from his jacket, and fired at will. One headcrab down. Two. Now only the zombie remained. 

“Shit,” he muttered. He didn’t have any bullets in his last clip, and the zombie was coming for him. He was cornered now. He closed his eyes, preparing to die.

_ Bang!  _

Venser opened his eyes and looked down. There was blood all over his chest.  _ I at least wanted to see Karn one last time...  _ He thought.

But the zombie in front of him fell backward, and Venser wasn’t in any pain. His eyes widened with shock. Someone had saved him! He looked up, and Karn was standing there, worry written all across his face.

“Venser! Are you alright?” he asked. He put his magnum away, and ran toward Venser. Karn squeezed him in an embrace, not giving a damn about the blood all over Venser’s shirt.

“I’m alright, thanks to you…” Venser said. He rubbed his forehead against Karn’s chest, so happy he could see his friend again before he  _ really  _ died. “If you hadn’t been there, I’d be zombie food.”

“Thank goodness you’re not,” Karn said. He released Venser, smiling warmly down at him. “I could never forgive myself if I found you dead here.”

“Better me dead than you,” Venser pouted. He crossed his arms over each other, moving his gaze elsewhere.

“Don’t be silly,” Karn said, reaching a hand to Venser’s shoulder. He leaned in a little, and Venser could feel his breath on his cheek. Venser’s face heat up. “We both need to survive. That’s why I have a plan to leave this god-forsaken city.”

Venser’s eyes went wide.

“You  _ what? _ There’s no way!” He looked at Karn right in the face, trying to discern whether he was joking or not. Anyone who’d ever tried to leave the city had never succeeded! And if they had, news would spread that that person had been executed. The citizens of City 17 had decided to never try it again.

Except for now, of course.

“I strongly believe we can do it, Venser. Just think about it. Do you want the Combine controlling us for the rest of our lives?” Karn asked, tilting his head.

“No…” Venser said. He looked at Karn’s feet, biting his lip nervously. “You’re right. Maybe we should try.” He was shocked that Karn would invite him to come along, but he was happy.

Karn’s smile widened. “Good. Now, before we start that, I’ve got something for you. Put out your hands.” 

Venser obliged, putting his hands out palm-up. Karn set a chocolate bar in them. Venser gasped. “Chocolate! But how did you…?”

“I know some people,” Karn said. “Well. I  _ knew _ some  _ bad _ people. Now they’re dead. And their chocolate is yours now.”

Venser began unwrapping the chocolate bar. “You were killing  _ Combine soldiers? _ No wonder you were gone so long!” He broke off a piece, giving it to Karn. “You weren’t hurt, were you?”

Karn shook his head. He fed the chocolate to Venser, who was shocked into silence. “Nope, I’m alright. And don’t worry about sharing that chocolate with me. It’s for you!”

Venser nodded, and they both sat down against the wall. He savored every bite of the chocolate, so happy to be able to taste it again. It’d been so long.

“We’ll leave after the sun goes down,” Karn said. “It'll be easier to sneak around that way.”

Even though Karn and Venser were technically underneath City 17, Karn was right. If they ran into any Combine soldiers on the way out, at least they could somewhat keep themselves hidden.

 

Venser still smelled like zombie blood by the time night came around. He wondered if Karn minded… Karn, on the other hand, was reloading his magnum with full clips he found on the way back to Venser’s train car.

“I'll kinda miss this place,” Venser said, looking over at Karn and smiling.

“I'll miss it too,” Karn said. “But don’t worry, we’ll find another place to call home. Come on now,” Karn rubbed Venser’s shoulder. “Let’s get going.”

“Right…”

The two friends headed out of Venser’s train car, never to see it again. They stayed close to each other as they exited the tunnel, looking both ways for any scanners, manhacks, combine soldiers… “Stay close to me,” Karn had said. Venser simply nodded, and stayed very near to Karn.

Karn suddenly grabbed Venser’s upper arm as they exited the tunnel. “Close your eyes!” he said. Venser felt as if his heart was going to fly out of his chest, and he shut his eyes tight. He saw a bright light, a heard a couple of bangs and the crashing of metal. Now Venser was squeezing Karn’s arm in return and shaking like a leaf.

“It’s okay,” Karn reassured him, rubbing his back, “The scanner’s broken now. Let’s keep moving.”

 

Karn and Venser held up for quite some time, not to say it was without any trouble. They ran into some Combine metro police, who grazed Venser’s cheek with a bullet. It would have been much worse had Karn not shoved Venser out of the way and into the dirt. Venser shot at the police with his pistol before standing up, and they were all dead in no time. Karn and Venser were a good team.

“You alright, Vense?” Karn asked. He offered a hand, and helped Venser stand up. Venser nodded.

“Thanks.”

They climbed up on some pipes to enter another tunnel, when they heard a voice call out behind them.

“Hey! Karn!” called the voice. Venser turned his head back, and assumed the voice came from the hooded woman in probably her thirties. She climbed up on the pipes and approached the two men, a motherly smile on her lips. But still, Venser instinctively grabbed Karn’s arm, his hands shaking against his jacket sleeve. “Who’s your friend?”

“Ah, Elspeth.” Karn smiled at her, and then back at Venser. “It’s alright, Vense. She’s a friend.” Venser nodded, swallowing nervously. He didn’t let go of Karn. “This is my good friend Venser. We live together when I have a home,” Karn said. He laughed quietly, patting Venser’s back affectionately. Venser felt his face warm up again.

“I see,” said Elspeth. Her face seemed to glow with fondness as she smiled. “I’ll take you both to Koth and Ajani, and then we’ll all get the hell out of here.”

“Alright. Lead the way, Els,” said Karn.

Elspeth nodded. She crawled passed the pipes with confidence, sliding through to another tunnel with ease. “Come along, boys,” she said.

“Hey, we’re in our twenties. We’re hardly boys,” Karn chuckled.

“Oh hush, you’re both children.”

Karn and Venser followed Elspeth. Karn watched over Venser to make sure he was getting through alright. He could tell he was feeling pretty stressed, just by how tense and quiet he was being. He leaned over to him, smiling sympathetically. He reassured Venser as he put his hands on his shoulders.

“Hey, we’re gonna be okay,” Karn told him. Venser nodded, looking anywhere but at Karn.

“You’ll be alright,” said Elspeth. “I can promise you that.”

Venser just nodded again, and gestured for Karn to move forward. “Let’s go.”

“You sure?” Karn asked.

“Positive. We’ll get nowhere at this rate…”

And so they moved forward. There were a lot of pipes, ladders and boxes to be climbed to get to new tunnels. The three of them eventually took a boat armed with a turret to finally get out of the city from a bunch of Combine soldiers and police, which they killed pretty easily. Elspeth was mainly the one to thank for this. She was amazing with her crossbow. They stayed quiet on the boat, but if something were to approach them, they’d have a way to defend themselves. Karn steered, while Elspeth took control of the turret. Venser felt a little useless now with his pistol in hand.

That’s when a three or four manhacks appeared, seemingly out of nowhere. Elspeth was quick to gun them down, but Venser was so shocked that his body froze and he fell backward into the painfully disgusting water.

He could not move.

He could not breathe.

He was going to die for real this time, wasn’t he?

Maybe that was okay. Maybe this way, Karn would have a better chance at survival.

That would be alright.

Venser kept his eyes closed, and accepted it.

 

But the darkness was only temporary. When he felt the air again, he felt something warm over him. Someone was breathing into him. He could feel again, but he still couldn’t move.

“He’s breathing!”

Karn! Karn had saved him!

“Venser, talk to me… You’re so cold.” Karn lifted him up, cradling him securely in his arms. “I’ll warm you up, it’s alright. You’re alright.”

“You keep hold of him, Karn. I’ll see about moving us somewhere safer,” Elspeth said. She moved the boat underneath some cover, and used a few boxes to hide the two men.

They waited for Venser to move.

He eventually started to cough. His lungs hurt like hell. He almost tipped over backward, but he caught himself and clung to Karn’s shoulders. Karn looked at him with surprise, smiling sadly at his friend.

“You alright, Vense?” Karn asked.

“I’m alright… I’m not so sure about walking…” Venser sighed, resting his face into Karn’s shoulder. “But I’ll try.”

“Now don’t push yourself, Venser,” Elspeth said. “Are you alright to ride for a while?”

“Yeah, I think so. Thanks.”

“Can we wait for just a moment…?” asked Karn.

“No, Karn, I’m totally alright…”

“Please,” insisted Karn. “Let’s… let’s wait.” Venser saw him bite his lip, and it made him worry about Karn. Was he really that concerned about Venser?

“Alright, Karn. Your call, then,” said Elspeth. She rested her elbows against the boxes.

They sat for a couple more minutes. Karn watched over Venser, seemingly much more concerned than Venser would expect. He blinked at his friend, as if to communicate that he’s fine. He didn’t mind leaving now.

“Okay,” Karn eventually said. “Let’s go now.”

“Sure thing.”

Karn took to manning the turret this time, and Elspeth drove. Venser pressed his back against Karn’s and held up his pistol just in case. They only had to kill a few more metro police before they completely entered the next tunnel, flowing along with the current.

“We should get there momentarily,” said Elspeth.

There were a couple of headcrabs along the way, but nothing worthy of wasting a couple of bullets on, unless they got too close, of course. When one did test did limit, Karn suddenly reached back and grabbed Venser’s arm. Venser smiled, and told Karn he was fine.

“We’ll get off at the dock, everyone,” said Elspeth. She drove a little bit further, and the three of them carefully got off the boat. Karn lifted Venser up, and they all walked together toward the door. “Just a little further, now.” They climbed up a few more pipes, when Elspeth pointed up and lowered her voice to a whisper. “Those metro police are too stupid to notice our little hideout.”

Venser looked up, and was surprised to see a hole in the ceiling. “Oh.”

Elspeth smiled. She practically launched herself up through the hole. Venser suddenly felt unsure about himself.

“Alright Vense, over here,” said Karn. He was positioning his hands out. Venser nodded. He stepped into Karn’s large hands, and swung over the hole. “You did it!”

“Thanks Karn,” said Venser from the top. “Need a hand?”

“Yeah, thanks.” Karn lept up, and Venser grabbed his hands, using all his strength to pull him back. Karn landed on top of him. Venser felt his cheeks heat up. He was in trouble if Karn noticed, which was basically inevitable. 

“Woah, Elspeth! Has the suppression field gone down? Ha!” laughed a voice that Venser didn’t recognize. Venser rolled out from under Karn, covering his eyes.

“Now, Koth! Enough immature jokes. This is Venser, Karn’s boyfriend.”

“Uh,” protested Venser, probably more red than his beanie now, “Friend.”

“Yes, friend,” said Karn.

“Right.  _ Friend _ ,” said Elspeth.

“ _ For now _ ,” muttered Koth.

“Excuse me?” Venser.

“Nothin’,” Koth said. He was smirking. 

“It’s either suppression field jokes or egg-ons, you’ll have to get used to it,” said Elspeth, rolling her eyes, “Sorry, Venser.” Venser shook his head. He only worried about what Karn thought, honestly. “Where did Ajani go off to, Koth? Weren’t you both supposed to wait here?”

Koth leaned back against the wall, shutting his eyes and kicking his legs back. “That lion mutant can’t be stopped when he’s hungry. What did you want me to do, get eaten?”

“Of course not. When did he leave?”

“An hour ago.”

“Oh. Than I assume he’ll return shortly?”

“Yep.”

Venser looked at Karn. He wondered why they never talked about these friends. It made his stomach twist in a knot. The smell of blood on his shirt probably wasn’t helping much, either. But Karn just smiled at him, rubbing the back of Venser’s beanie.

“Oh, do shut up, Koth,” said Elspeth moments later. Venser looked over, and saw that Koth was leaning toward her with a wide grin on his face. “Don’t be rude to our new friend.”

“Fine,” said Koth, “You have an hour on me.”

Suddenly, that lion mutant Koth mentioned earlier appeared in the hideout. “Hello, friends,” he said. He was standing on two legs, much like a human, but he was just as fuzzy as a lion. He felt like someone Venser could trust, somehow, so he wasn’t scared when the mutant appeared. “I found snacks for you all. And just who is this?” he asked, gesturing at Venser.

“This is my good friend--” Karn started, but was interrupted by Koth.

“Bed buddy--” said Koth.

“ _ Good friend, _ ” reiterated Karn, “Venser. I lived with him before we planned this.”

Venser nodded, and reached to shake Ajani’s paw. Ajani shook his hand, and handed him a bag of beef jerky. “Here you go, boy. Lovely to meet you.”

“Thanks. Nice to meet you too,” said Venser.

The group all had their snacks. Venser was extremely exhausted now, but he refused to say anything about it. He didn’t want to slow anyone down. Especially not Karn. As they finished up, Elspeth stood up and opened a locked cabinet.

“Karn and Venser, you two will need new guns,” she declared. She pulled out two MP7s, a Combine SPAS-12, and a Pulse Rifle. “Each of you, take two.”

“I’ll take an MP7 and a SPAS,” said Karn. Elspeth nodded and handed them to him. Ajani handed the other two to Venser.

“Good,” said Elspeth. “Everyone prepare your weapons. We’ll rest for a while longer, but then we must leave. Venser,” she turned to him, looking a little stern, but in that motherly kind of way.  “You should try and sleep for a little while, you look exhausted.”

Venser raised his hands in protest. “No, really, I’m alright now--”

“Vense, please rest. I’m worried too,” said Karn. He looked at Venser with deep concern, and rested his hands on his shoulders. “You can lean against me. Please.”

“Aww,” Koth teased. “How sweet!”

“Hush up Koth,” said Elspeth.

Venser tried to ignore them, and rested his head against Karn’s shoulder. He fell asleep in no time. He had dreams about the suppression field going down.

 

Venser woke up to the calming sound of Karn’s voice.

“Hey, Venser, it’s time to wake up,” he said. Venser grumbled, feeling Karn’s hand through his hair. “We’re about to leave.”

“Nn okay,” said Venser. He rubbed his eyes, and Karn helped him sit up. “How long have I been asleep?”

“About an hour,” Karn answered. He pushed Venser’s bangs back. “You feel alright to move around?”

“Yeah, I do…” Venser said calmly.

Venser witnessed Elspeth jabbing Koth in the gut. “Well I think it’s time we go,” she said, gritting her teeth and looking in the direction of Koth. “Enough fooling around.”

“That’s right. Let’s escape before daylight,” said Ajani.

The group got out, armed and ready. They slid quietly along the pipes, simply ignoring any metro police on their way out. As long as there was no manhacks or scanners, the police wouldn’t be alerted. Some police started coming eerily toward them for some reason, and Venser started to instinctively shake. Karn grabbed his hand and squeezed it. Venser felt him say “it’ll be okay,” even though he said nothing. And then the metro police walked away.

His hand felt cold when Karn let it go.

They crept slowly into the vents, one at a time. Koth crawled through first; he slipped in casually and quietly. Ajani followed after the flashlight signal, then Elspeth, then Venser…

He looked at Karn worriedly; he didn't want  _ him _ to be the last one in, but Karn smiled and nodded confidently, urging Venser to go on. So he did, and Karn followed right behind. 

Venser heard a loud  _ boom _ once Koth got to the end of the tunnel and froze in place, his eyes wide with terror, but the three ahead of him kept moving, exiting the vent. They started shooting, and Venser found himself staring at the opening.

“Venser, it's alright,” Karn said, rubbing Venser’s calf. “I'll protect you.” Venser’s face went hot. He nodded, and crawled to the end of the vent again.

He looked down at the space below at the end of the vent. There was blood everywhere, but the team looked uninjured. It must have been more Combine, then. Venser sighed in relief and hopped down to the pipes, Karn helping him by gripping his hand. Likewise, Venser helped Karn down as well.

“We’re clear,” they heard Elspeth say.

“C’mon, Vense, let’s go,” said Karn. He and Venser headed to Elspeth, Ajani, and Koth’s location.

“Take a look,” said Elspeth, pointing ahead, “Who wants to have a go at knocking the turrets over?”

“Me!” said Koth. He pulled out his gun and hid behind a box near one of the turrets. But when he accidentally lifted his head too soon, everyone was surprised to see that the turret didn’t shoot a single bullet. Neither did the others. “Well that’s no fun!” Koth sighed disappointedly.

“It looks like someone’s corrupted them,” said Elspeth.

“I assume it was a couple of civilians,” said Ajani.

Koth kicked the turrets over anyway, a joyful smile on his face.

  
  
  


They’d finally made it out to the tunnels after hours of wandering around the vents and pipes. Luckily, everyone was mostly alright, aside from Venser shaking every once and awhile; he felt lucky that Karn was there for him.

Venser and Karn went ahead of the rest of the group. They were the first to exit the tunnel into the gray world. 

They heard gunshots.

Venser froze in place, turning his head to look at Karn. There was blood.

There were voices too, but Venser couldn’t hear anything. Not with Karn next to him, unable to get up. He kneeled down to his friend, wrapping his arms around him and covering him with his body. There were more gunshots, and Venser didn’t care if he were to go down. As long as no one shot at Karn again.

“Karn… Karn, can you hear me?” Venser whispered.

They heard more gunshots. Venser felt a bullet hit his leg. He groaned, and squeezed Karn harder.

“Venser… Venser, I can hear you…”

“I might die here, Karn… Let me tell you something before that happens…”

More gunshots. They shot Venser’s arm.

“V-Venser, no… I can’t let you die,” Karn said quietly. “We were… We were supposed to escape together…”

“The only thing I want,” Venser sighed, “Is for you to get out of here alive.”

“Venser…” Karn groaned. “If… If I can’t escape without the love of my life by my side… then what’s the point…?”

“W-What?” Venser’s heart was pounding in his chest. His hands were shaking and going pale.

“That’s right, I… I love you, Venser,” Karn said, as if it were his last breath.

“K-Karn…” Venser’s lips started to quiver, and now he was crying into Karn’s chest. “Karn,  y-you have to go on without me…”

“I’m not going to,” said Karn.

Venser felt a sharp pain in his thigh. “You-- have to…” he said.

Then the gunshots stopped, and Venser collapsed.

 

Venser felt warm. His eyes were closed, but something about his surroundings made him feel… safe. He groaned a little, and tried to roll over. He felt snug and cozy, and he wanted to go back to sleep. But he opened his eyes, just to see where he was.

Karn was sleeping there with his arms tightly wrapped around him. He had tear stains on his brown cheeks. Venser smiled sadly, and pressed his forehead to Karn’s. His body ached so badly, it hurt like hell. But Karn was here, and they were both alive. That made Venser happy.

He noticed that his arm was bandaged up, and his leg. Karn’s friends must have bandaged them both, and they must have killed off those Combine too. But Venser and Karn were safe in an abandoned house, huddled together in a pile of jackets.

“Karn,” Venser whispered, using his left hand to wipe Karn’s tear stains away. “Karn, wake up…”

Karn’s face twitched, but he didn’t wake up. Venser blushed, and leaned over to kiss Karn on the lips. When he pulled away, Karn’s eyes were open and he looked surprised.

“Venser, you’re alright…” he said.

Venser nodded, his cheeks very red. “Mhm…” he said. “Karn, I never got to tell you my last words…”

“Because you didn’t die,” Karn said, laughing sadly.

“You told me you loved me…” Venser whispered, looking away.

“I do love you,” Karn said, “I always have…”

“I wanted to tell you that  _ I _ love you first,” Venser said. His eyes were filling up with tears again, and he squeezed at Karn’s shirt. “I almost died, and I wouldn’t have gotten to tell you that…”

“Oh, Venser…” Karn said. He pet Venser’s hair from under the beanie, and wiped his tears away from his eyes. “Come here.”

Venser leaned forward, and this time Karn was pressing his lips to Venser’s cheek, sliding over to his lips. Venser felt so warm in his chest, and he never wanted this moment to end. When they kissed, Venser lost his sense of time. He wanted to kiss Karn forever.

They eventually stopped, and as much as Venser was disappointed, he was happy to look at Karn’s face again. His eyes were glistening as he looked at him.

“Where are the others?” Venser asked.

“They’re taking turns staying up to keep watch… It was Koth’s idea to leave us alone in this room,” Karn said.

Venser smiled. “I guess he was right about us, wasn’t he?”

“Yeah,” laughed Karn. “Lay next to me, Venser.”

Venser lied down as Karn suggested, and he was wrapped up in big arms again.

“You should go back to sleep… I’ll hold you, I promise,” Karn said. Venser nodded, and put his face into Karn’s chest.

He fell asleep happily, the happiest he’d ever been.

 

When Venser woke up again, he was in the back of a dune buggy in Karn’s arms. He sniffled a little, leaning his head against Karn’s shoulders. He received a kiss on the top of his head, sand in his hair and the breeze in his face.

“Good morning,” said Karn.

“Where are we headed?” Venser asked.

Karn intertwined their fingers, putting their hands between them. “We’re headed to a survivor’s location. They have plenty of food and water.”

“That’s correct,” said Elspeth. “But we’ll have to get by the sand dunes to get there.”

“Alright,” said Venser, nuzzling Karn’s arm.

“We must be cautious, however,” said Ajani, “There are mutant insects called antlions that wander these dunes.”

“Don’t worry about shooting them, lovebirds,” said Koth, “Me and Ajani have it covered. You sit back and cuddle.”

Venser’s looked up to Karn, his face warm. Karn, on the other hand, laughed quietly and kissed Venser on the lips. “Sounds good to me,” he said.

“You too are so sweet,” laughed Elspeth.

“Karn’s the sweet one,” Venser said under his breath.

“Aww,” said Karn.

Antlions began to emerge from the sand as the group entered the dunes. They made Venser’s skin crawl and grab Karn’s hand tightly.

Koth was different in that he laughed as he used his pulse rifle on the creatures, seemingly having the time of his life. Elspeth was driving cautiously, avoiding any bumps in the sand and hardly saying a thing. Ajani shot the antlions more thoroughly, almost never missing them.

“There's Nova Prospekt,” said Karn. He gritted his teeth as he looked at it.

“What's that?” Venser asked, his stomach warm as he held Karn's hand.

“It's a high-security jail. They like to hold members of Black Mesa here. Sometimes they do forceful surgery on people to turn them into Combine too.”

“Awful stuff,” Elspeth said. “But it's cleared out now. Someone's been going around and doing the hard work.”

Venser felt absolutely clueless. The Combine really  _ had _ been keeping news of out of City 17, hadn't they?

“You see that water down there? We’ll use a boat to get to the survivor location. We should arrive by sundown.”

“I will steer the boat,” said Ajani.

“Thank you, my friend,” said Elspeth.

It was the afternoon by the time the five of them arrived at the other end of the coast. Venser was sweating. He wasn't used to the heat, but that didn't mean he’d let go of his lover's hand. Elspeth pulled next to the doc and parked the dune buggy. She and Ajani got first, then Koth, and finally Karn. Venser tried to get out of the vehicle, but instead he could only whimper in pain.

“I-I can't move my leg,” he said. Karn gave him a look of concern before pulling him out from the side, moving his arm around Venser’s side to help him walk.

“Would you like to rest, boy?” asked Ajani.

“I'm alright, thanks,” said Venser, “Karn’s all I need.” He smiled at his lover, who smiled right back.

“Let's get the hell out of here,” said Karn.

 

Venser noticed that Karn was much more protective as the team crossed the water. He released Venser’s hand only to wrap his arms tightly around him and tuck his chin in Venser’s beanie. “I won’t fall in again, I promise,” he whispered.

Koth suddenly straightened up in his seat and smiled. “Hey look, it’s up ahead!”

Ahead was a heavily forested area with tall trees and tall mountains. Venser didn’t know if he’d ever seen so many in the same place at once. He sat up a little too quickly, and gritted his teeth in pain, but was held tightly by Karn. He started breathing evenly and settled down.

“Venser,” said Elspeth, getting his attention, “We’ll need to have those bullets removed first thing, alright?”

Karn looked at him, and he nodded. “Yeah, thanks.”

“And you too, Karn.”

“Right.”

Venser looked at Karn. He could feel the tenseness in his voice. He squeezed his shoulder, as if to ease the tension at least a little bit.

  
  
  


When they arrived at the beach, they were immediately welcomed by a young-looking woman who had her hair in two short braids. She helped them pull the boat in, and offered a hand to help Elspeth out.

“Can I get a hand too, miss?” asked Koth.

The woman giggled. “Of course.”

With everyone on the land, the woman lead the group through the forest, and toward the first mountain. They climbed a set of stairs, going around a building attached to the side of the mountain. And between this mountain and the one across the way, was a beautiful valley full of beautiful apartment complexes, painted brilliant colors and bustling with people. Venser felt like crying. The only think more beautiful than this view was Karn. Karn, who was holding Venser up with an arm as they walked. Karn, who Venser would die for. Karn, who Venser fell for long ago. 

And this was the place they’d call home together.

Karn and Venser struggled to cross the bridge together, but it would be worth it.

 

As Elspeth promised, Karn and Venser had their bullets removed inside a surprisingly clean hospital near the apartments. It turned out that living in this survivor’s location wasn’t easy, but at least it was better than living in City 17. The Combine would still try to acost them, but since Nova Prospekt was reclaimed there were easier times in the mountains. The only usual worry were the mutated bears wandering around, and the mosquitos.

It turned out that Venser needed to stay in the hospital for a while longer than Karn, so he didn’t get to explore the city for a while. Karn visited each day, always bringing Venser a gift of some kind. He’d tell Venser what kind of work he’d been getting into. Eventually, he even brought Venser new clothes to wear when he was done, and told him he found an apartment the two of them could live in. 

“It’s the only one that reminded me of the train car,” he’d said. He was caressing Venser’s hand at the time, playing with his fragile fingers. “I hope you’ll like it.”

The rest of the gang had visited Venser as well. Koth brought the braided woman from the first day in with him, and announced that the two of them started dating. Venser congratulated him, shortly before falling asleep. When Ajani and Elspeth visited, they gave him some flowers from the mountains and told him they helped Karn set up their apartment together. Venser was looking forward to seeing it.

And then, after what felt like weeks, the doctor finally released Venser. He needed crutches, the doctor said, because Venser’s legs didn’t work how they did before he was shot. This gave Venser a lot of anxiety. What would Karn think?

He waited in his hospital room for Karn to come, and he felt like he might freeze. He really hoped this wouldn’t turn Karn away. He couldn’t help but cry a little as he looked at his new crutches.

“Why are you crying?” it was Karn. Venser looked up to see him, and he was holding a giant bouquet of strange and beautiful flowers. He was wearing new clothes, too; a white beanie, which contrasted beautifully against his brown skin, a blue tanktop, and a pair of rugged jeans. He approached Venser slowly, not wanting to startle him. Venser felt his face go pink, and his hands started to shake.

“I have to use crutches from now on…” he said, his voice wobbling.

“Oh…” said Karn.

“If… If I’m too much of a burden now, I understand…”

“Venser, you’ve gotta be kidding… Of course you aren’t.” Karn placed a kiss on Venser’s lips, so soft and delicate that Venser felt like he might burst. “I love you, no matter what.”

“O-oh Karn… I love you too… Thank you.”

And so they kissed again, gently and passionate. 

Being in love was terrifying at first. But Venser felt more brave the more time he spent with Karn. 

Venser had found his purpose and his true love. And Karn had found the same.

 


End file.
